Selectboard Minutes

Minutes

Town of Greenfield

Greenfield Town Offices, 7 Sawmill Road Greenfield, NH

Selectboard’s Minutes

Thursday, March 29, 2018 – 5:30 PM

Selectboard: Chairman Robert Marshall, Selectwoman Margaret A. Charig Bliss, Selectwoman Karen Day

Staff: Aaron Patt, Town Administrator; Brian Giammarino, Police Chief

Public:

Documents for Review/Approval

1. A/P Check Register(s) – 4/04
2. Payroll Register – 4/06
3. Minutes of Selectboard Meeting – 3/20/2018
4. Oak Park Rental – 6/10/2018
5. Welfare

Other Business:

• Road Name – Request letter to E911
• Mileage request – Mileage Policy review
• Land & Water Conservation Fund Program letter

5:30 PM: Public Forum

At 5:30 pm, Chairman Marshall opened the meeting. It was noted that there were no public present. Rick McQuade was present with an update on the groundskeeper program for 2018. The Board invited Mr. McQuade to provide a brief update and Mr. McQuade stated that he has been unsuccessful to date in securing a commitment from Jeremy Gagnon Landscaping based on the bids received over the winter. He stated that the bids were far more than anticipated and he was in a dilemma on how to move forward. He stated that an hourly rate was an unworkable reference as the contractors bid on each property separately. Chairman Marshall asked what items were added to the bid package when it went out to bid. Mr. McQuade explained that he had added some upkeep for the sidewalks and some mowing at the community garden – not a lot of additional work in his opinion. Selectwoman Day suggested that he present the amount of funding available in the budget and ask how much work could be accomplished with the funds available. Mr. McQuade agreed to this approach and said as a back-up that he would call the other bidder and ask him the same question.

At 5:35pm, the Selectboard began working through the Consent Agenda.

5:45 PM: Ray Cilley, Landowner

At 5:45 pm Chairman Marshall noted that Ray Cilley was present to discuss a town line issue along the Bennington/Greenfield town line. Mr. Cilley explained that approximately .49 acres of his property is taxed by both Greenfield and Bennington due to what appears to be an issue with the Town Line. He stated that the money is not the issue as the land is in current use, but the two towns should resolve the issue as it affects more than just his own property.

A series of maps outlining the town lines was made available for the Selectboard to review. The maps show Greenfield’s record of the town line, which is substantially different than Bennington’s maps. A third town line location is mentioned in a survey on file with the Registry of Deeds. The survey shows the town line as it appears on records of the Boston and Maine railroad. Town Administrator Patt told the Board that he had ordered a copy of the map from the NH Department of Transportation’s Railway Planning Office. The Board conferred with Mr. Cilley. Mr. Cilley suggested that the two towns use the railway line as the town line in order to save money from having to have expensive surveys conducted. The Board noted that the survey map from New England Forestry Consultants shows the possible boundary markers. The bounds include a marker that was discovered in Powder Mill Pond, when the water was lowered by the paper mill. Tracing a line from bound to bound gave a different possible line to follow. A discussion on perambulation followed and the Selectboard suggested that the line be perambulated with Bennington to see if the boundary markers found could be mapped. A decision on how to move forward could be made at the conclusion of the perambulation. The Board discussed a proposal from the Town Forester to perambulate the town lines and to provide GPS readings of the boundary markers.

6:35 PM: Selectboard Work Session

The Selectboard discussed a document that was presented by Chairman Marshall, entitled “Guidelines for the Chair”. Chairman Marshall explained that his intent was to establish a process that everyone could agree to at the beginning of the term. A follow-up discussion on email protocols was held. The Board discussed the best way to use email to ensure that no unintended meetings or decisions were made via email. The Board agreed that draft documents would be emailed back to the Town Administrator and that the Town Administrator would update documents with selectboard member suggestions and edits prior to the next meeting. The Board agreed by consensus to adopt the guidelines.

Chairman Marshall outlined that the recent draft of the Selectboard Minutes was reviewed by the Selectboard members and edits were sent to the Town Administrator. Some of the edits were substantive and required the Board to vote on them. Chairman Marshall explained that edits that are formatting, spelling, and grammar can usually be included into a finalized document ready for the consent agenda. In the case of the minutes of March 20^th, edits provided by Selectwoman Day were beyond the scope of these types of edits and had entered into substantive territory. The Board reviewed a red-line version of the minutes with edits from Selectwoman Day. Edits to include statements made by Chairman Marshall that “Chairman Marshall stated that he felt that the vote at town meeting was clearly an indication that the residents voted for the new tanker. Selectwoman Day agreed and said that this is a safety issue and must be addressed as soon as possible”, as provided by Selectwoman Day, were discussed. Chairman Marshall stated that he agreed with the edits as they reflected accurately the statements that he made at the meeting. On review by Selectwoman Charig Bliss the Board noted that the statements were to be included in the minutes.  On page 2 of the Selectboard Minutes (draft) Selectwoman Day had inserted “Selectwoman Day stated that she would not consider a truck that was 15 yrs old or more because the tanker is the first line of defense at a fire and must be reliable”. The Board discussed this insertion and agreed that this was an accurate reflection of Selectwoman Day’s statement in the meeting. Next the Board reviewed a suggestion by Selectwoman Day that a line regarding the discussion of the Fire Chief’s stipend be struck from the minutes as follows: “The discussion touched on the recent vote at Town Meeting to change the wording of the fire department line item from ‘Chief’s Salary’ to ‘Chief’s Stipend’ for future Town Reports and budget documents”. The Board discussed this strikethrough suggestion. Chairman Marshall stated that he felt that this deletion was not an accurate reflection of the conversation as it was a topic of conversation in that meeting. Chairman Marshall asked why Selectwoman Day thought this should be struck from the minutes. Selectwoman Day explained that in the vote of a previous Town Meeting, the warrant article that was voted on by voters was to provide a “part-time paid Fire Chief’s position” and that the position was to be paid ‘ranging from a stipend up to a salary’. Selectwoman Day stated that in her opinion the town voted for a part-time position for the Chief and that this should be examined before discussing the vote at the 2018 Town Meeting. Chairman Marshall stated that he did not feel that people voted to hire a part-time Chief but that they understood they were voting for a larger stipend. After some additional discussion it was agreed to leave the reference to the vote on the Fire Chief’s stipend in the minutes. Selectwoman Charig Bliss made a motion to accept the minutes as amended, Selectwoman Day seconded the motion. The motion passed on a vote of 3-0.

The Board discussed the fact that with the schedule change to Thursday nights, the minutes were beyond the five day period as outlined in RSA 91-A. It was agreed that the Chair would review the minutes when finalized and approve of them so that they could be posted on the website.

The Board discussed other business stemming from Town Meeting. Selectwoman Charig Bliss asked if the amendment at the end of the meeting from Jack Moran had been included. She stated it was important not to lose sight of this additional piece of business. The Selectboard requested that the Town Meeting Minutes be brought to the next meeting for review.

A brief discussion on the Greenfield Spirit newsletter was held. Chairman Marshall volunteered to write an article about the recent tree work at the Library and asked if the Town Administrator could provide some information about the additions to the budget that occurred at Town Meeting.

Next the Selectboard discussed the continuing absence of the Town Clerk. A discussion on the Deputy Clerk position was held. The Board discussed whether to approach Dorene Adams and see if she was willing to stay on as Deputy Clerk. A suggestion was made that perhaps Ann Setaro should be approached. The Board then reviewed the budget of the Town Clerk’s office and noted that the expense of having municipal agents was significant. The Board discussed the fees associated with the Town Clerk’s position. It was noted the Town Clerk had not requested any fees but had been paid her salary during the time she has been out. The Selectboard discussed RSA 261:74-D. The Selectboard noted that the fees are currently being used to partially offset hourly wages of municipal agents from outside of Greenfield that are substantial.

At 7:45pm the Chair brought up the structure of the Selectboard Agenda. Chairman Marshall stated that he would prefer that Old Business and Other Business be at the top of the agenda in the future so that the Selectboard could make headway each meeting toward retiring these items. Chairman Marshall suggested a change from Old Business to “Unfinished Business”. Selectwoman Day suggested that there be a folder on Old Business items that the Selectboard members could review at the office between meetings.

At 8:00pm, the Selectboard voted on a motion by the Chair and a second by Selectwoman Charig Bliss to approve the Consent Agenda. The motion passed on a vote of 3-0.

Chairman Marshall stated that he would like to make some progress on renaming portions of Gulf Road and Dodge Road. The Selectboard members explained to Selectwoman Day that they had held a public hearing with the residents that live on those roads and had agreed to the residents’ suggestions that East/West and North/South be used so that they could maintain their current documents and addresses. Unfortunately, the Selectboard members explained to Selectwoman Day, the E911 Bureau had indicated that these changes did not comport with the State RSAs as they were too similar to the existing names. The E911 Bureau had rejected these names.

The Selectboard held an extensive discussion on how to move forward with the road names. At the conclusion of the conversation, Selectwoman Day suggested that for the end of Dodge Road, that this be renamed to McMann Road or Drive. She further suggested that the Board come up with a name for Gulf Road to the end of Slip Road, but not including the Class VI portion of the Road. Once this name was finalized the residents should be notified of the E911 Bureau’s decision and the Board’s decision to use the new road names.

Next the Selectboard reviewed and discussed the mileage policy document. Selectwoman Day outlined her conversations with the Fire Chief regarding the possibility of having a non-accountable plan (allowance) for local travel and reimbursements for business miles. She reported that the Fire Chief seemed amenable to the arrangement. The Board discussed a suitable allowance for local travel. The Board then discussed how this would affect the Fire Department budget. Administrator Patt noted that the Planning Board had inquired if its budget could be used to cover mileage to training events. There followed a discussion on the Accountable Plan vs. the Non-Accountable Plan.

Next the Selectboard took up a brief discussion of the selectboard meeting schedule. Selectwoman Charig Bliss advised that she would be unable to make the April 12^th meeting due to a scheduling conflict, and possibly the May 7^th meeting due to jury duty.

At 9:15pm the Selectboard took up a discussion of the Fire Department tanker. The Selectboard received an update from Administrator Patt regarding his conversation with ConVal Business Administrator Mindy Ryan. Patt reported that ConVal was agreeable to Greenfield’s interest in changes to the payment schedule should the Board need additional cashflow to accommodate a tanker purchase. The discussion had contemplated a reduction starting in July and paid back in January of 2019, which is all part of the same fiscal year for the ConVal School District. A discussion on the timing followed. Selectwoman Day stated that the tanker should be purchased as soon as possible as it is a public safety issue. Day stated that the ConVal payment could be delayed between now and July 1. Chairman Marshall stated that he agreed that a new tanker should be purchased however he felt that the Selectboard needs to do its homework. Chairman Marshall stated that he would like to get three bids. He stated that he was in favor of getting the truck this year, but was willing to wait until July. Selectwoman Charig Bliss stated that she disagreed with both of the other Selectboard members and should exhaust the possibility of used vehicles first. Selectwoman Day stated that she was willing to look at used vehicles as long as they work for Greenfield. Chairman Marshall stated that the Warranty on a new truck was an important part of the discussion. After additional comments the Board agreed to make this Unfinished Business #1 at the next meeting.

Adjournment

The time being 9:20 pm, Selectwoman Day moved to adjourn.  Selectwoman Charig Bliss seconded. All were in favor, and the motion carried 3-0. The meeting adjourned at 9:20 PM.

The minutes are final when approved and signed by the Selectboard. A signed copy is on file in the Selectboard’s office.